If the media members who participated in the SHOWTIME Media Prediction Poll have called it correctly, Vic “Raging Bull” Darchinyan will walk out of the ring a five-time world champion with a victory over Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko. A triumph also would make Darchinyan a three-division world champ – at 112, 115 and 118 pounds. Agbeko (26-1, 22 KOs), the IBF bantamweight champion, will defend against Darchinyan (32-1, 26 KOs) in the main event this Saturday live on SHOWTIME (9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast) from the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla. The matchup between two of the hardest-hitting, pound-for-pound boxers in the world could end with one punch. Both fighters have whopping knockout percentages. Agbeko has won inside the distance 81 percent of the time while Darchinyan has won by knockout 76 percent of the time. One thing is certain: Raging Bull certainly didn’t take a tune-up in King Kong. Still, Darchinyan was a landslide winner in the SHOWTIME poll, garnering 22 of the 28 predictions. Most predicted a knockout for the Australian-based Armenian bomber, while only three predicted the fight would go to the scorecards.
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The co-feature on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING will showcase two once-beaten, world-ranked No. 4 contenders when emerging lightweight Antonio DeMarco (20-1, 14 KOs), of Tijuana, Mexico, meets Anges “Baby Face” Adjaho (25-1, 14 KOs), from Benin, Africa, now fighting out of Geneva, N.Y., in a 12-round bout.